Entering Saturday on a four-game losing streak and a 5-4 record, Iowa State earned bowl eligibility with a 20-17 win against TCU in Fort Worth, Texas.
The last time the Cyclones had won was a dominant 39-14 win over Arizona at home. Since then, Iowa State has struggled to put together a complete game for a win, but it finally found its sixth win against the Horned Frogs.
In the four straight losses, the Cyclones had seen some crucial mistakes from redshirt junior quarterback Rocco Becht that have impacted the outcome of the game. Although it was not Becht’s best game Saturday, he made the big plays when it mattered most.
In the first half, Becht executed a drive that included 61 passing yards and a touchdown pass to junior tight end Benjamin Brahmer to give the Cyclones a 6-0 lead. A failed two-point conversion kept it at that score.
The touchdown to Brahmer was a good sign for the Cyclones, considering it came just a week after he collapsed on the field and was admitted to the hospital. The touchdown was the only catch Brahmer had all day.
In fact, six of Becht’s nine total completions happened in the first half of the game. The 111 passing yards were the fewest Becht has had all season, and the nine completions were the first time he went under 10 completions all season.
The play that changed the outcome of the game came with under seven minutes left in the second half, when the Horned Frogs faced a three-and-out and were forced to punt it away to the Cyclones.
Redshirt freshman running back Aiden Flora fielded the punt and took it 79 yards for a touchdown, helping the Cyclones regain the lead over TCU. Earlier this season, Flora returned a punt for 66 yards against South Dakota. The touchdown return against the Horned Frogs had a little bit of a bigger impact.
Becht may not have had his biggest game of the season, but with the game wrapping up and Iowa State needing one more drive, Becht came up big to help seal the deal.
With three and a half minutes left in the game, the Cyclones faced third and six from their own 16 yard line. Becht roped a pass to redshirt senior wide receiver Eli Green for 15 yards, setting up the Cyclones with much better field position.
The final push for Iowa State came when it faced a fourth and one with less than two minutes left to play. Becht motioned a fake toss to junior running back Carson Hansen and took a bootleg himself to pick up a first down. Iowa State had already converted, but a flag on TCU confirmed the conversion.
Iowa State eventually had to give the ball back to the Horned Frogs with under a minute to go, and five plays later, the Cyclones had sealed it. TCU quarterback Josh Hoover finished the game with 319 passing yards, but he could not get anything going with the final five plays of the game to help the Horned Frogs.
Defensively, junior defensive back Tre Bell had a high-impact game to help Iowa State earn bowl eligibility. Bell finished with five total tackles, including three solo.
During the Horned Frogs’ first offensive possession, Bell intercepted Hoover’s pass, setting up the first scoring drive for the Cyclones.
Later, in the fourth quarter, Bell made another big play to stop a TCU drive. Following the touchdown return from Flora, TCU made it to Cyclone territory and was picking up chunk yardage each play. With a little over five minutes to play, Bell punched the ball out of the Horned Frog ball carrier’s hands, giving the Cyclones the ball back with the chance to ice the game.
Iowa State picked up its sixth and bowl-clinching win with a 20-17 score over TCU, improving to 6-4 on the season and 3-4 in Big 12 play.
